The Vietnam Contingency Issue 5: Withdrawal from Fear
The Vietnam Contingency Issue #5: Withdrawal from Fear is the fifth and final installment of the comic book styled series written by Haou1987, known as The Vietnam Contingency. It finishes the fight between Delta Platoon and the Order of the Dragon Tail, its leader and Shi'ntora and the aftermath of it, with the consequences it made for their future. Production time: April 2014 - May 2014 Synopsis Present - 'Julius Lokin is sitting opposite of Ellie Wellace, summarizing what just happened, what she had told sofar. Ellie Wellace asks him why he needs to know all this. Agent Lokin tells her a situation had arisen that required their expertise and the current situation has many circumstances that are alike the fight Delta Platoon fought at the beginning of the Vietnam War. Ellie tells him it cannot be him, they made sure he could not have survived the fight. Agent Lokin agrees, saying it was not him indeed, something else from the war came back to haunt them. Ellie asks them what they found, had they found it? Agent Lokin claims not to know what she is on about and asks her to continue her debrief. As Ellie takes up the story from the moment Delta Platoon enters the Chamber of Hadra where Xi-Zhuan was waiting for them, she tells they are getting near the end. '''APRIL 3, 1965 - NUNGCONG JUNGLE - 'Havoc Two was being hunted by Shi'ntora, while the rest of the squadron went after it but also had to suffer from ground to air artillery by the Order of the Dragon Tail, which they assumably had acquired through their Soviet contacts. Havoc Two tells Havoc Leader he has to break away from the dragon if he wants to survive the fight. Havoc Leader tells him to make a run for the ground and pull up, get the dragon into the jungle. Havoc Two is flanked by Havoc Four, while Havoc Leader and the other Havocs dive down to bomb the artillery on the ground, effectively rendering three units useless. As Havoc Two made his succesfull dive into the jungle and then pull up in time, the dragon crashed into the jungle, and when they breathed a sign of relief, the dragon reappears. At that moment Havoc Four is shot out of the sky by a V-Crystal powered artillery cannon and Havoc Leader is barely able to escape the attack. In the Chamber of Hedra, Robert and Julius attempt to sever the connection between Warlord Xi-Zhuan and the caught members of their squad by firing bullets at Xi-Zhuan. He deflects them with ease though, using the purple energy streams coming from the Scale of Shi'ntora to wrap himself in a cocoon of energy. Xi-Zhuan tells them they have entered sacred grounds. The dragon god Hedra will watch over him and his dragon. They cannot stop him. Kyle and Daniel manage to sneak behind Xi-Zhuan and drive a dagger into his back, severing the connection between Xi-Zhuan and Ellie. Robert manages to help up Ellie, while Xi-Zhuan simply kills Kyle by snapping his neck. Ellie says they cannot hurt Xi-Zhuan as long as he holds the Scale of that dragon. Robert says they will not have much time, the battle above ground is ongoing. If they don't win this soon, all will be lost above. Barely avoiding a breath of fire from the dragon, Havoc Two also has to avoid various shots fired by the artillery down at the ground. Havoc Five gets hit by the tail of the dragon and crashes into the artillery unit, effectively shutting it down. Havoc Leader responds there are still artillery units to destroy. However at some point, Havoc Four and Havoc Leader have to evade a shot coming from the side of the sea. The shot misses Shi'ntora by an inch. Another shot is fired, gone forth by a seering sound. Havoc Four demands to know where those shots came from, Havoc Leader contacts the fleet, but at first got no response. Two more shots were fired, with them barely avoiding the blasts, before they finally got in touch with the fleet, where Admiral Bob Barnes informs him the CIA's secret weapon has arrived, an energy powered mach 5 machine gun aboard the USS Fairer. Admiral Barnes informs Havoc Leader that President Wayne Ellis has authorized the use of the USS Fairer, with the capability of hitting the dragon from long range. The USS Virtigo and the remaining protective ships are forming a protective barrier around the USS Fairer. Reconaissance flights have pointed out that Vietnam has been recieving cargo convoys from the Sovjet Union and its allies and a few Russian warships have been protecting them. Admiral Barnes and Sergeant Darville watch the USS Fairer fire another shot, when a reconaissance plane flies over, which is then shot down. Admiral Barnes tells Sergeant Darville its the back lash of the use of the USS Fairer, it will knock out any electrical equipment or machines, meaning the plane was dead now. Admiral Barnes tells Sergeant Darville to take a team of people he trusts to the village on the beach and set up a camp there, when the dragon is down. Robert and Julius manage to free Anthony and Sam and tell them to go up ground to assist the destruction of the forces on the ground and the air, while they take care of Xi-Zhuan. Anthony and Sam lead a few of the soldiers away and only Robert, Ellie, Julius and Daniel remain. Robert tells Xi-Zhuan this ends here. Xi-Zhuan smirks saying there is no way they can stop him, after he kills them, he will roam free, take over Vietnam and join the Grand Sovjet Empire. Robert is astonished by this, he did not think such a plan would exist. Xi-Zhuan tells him he has been blind to many things, but there are things at work that if he is succesfull here, no-one can stop. The world will accept the Sovjets as their leaders and the Order of the Dragon Tail will emerge as a single entity within that will rule along. Robert tells him that will never happen and he reveals to hold a detonator switch. He pushes the button, blowing up the entrance to the chamber and the only way out for both them and Xi-Zhuan. Robert now directly strikes Xi-Zhuan, but his powers are far greater then Robert's agility and ability to dodge blows. Daniel however manages to recover his sniper rifle and fire a series of shots, a few of which manage to hit Xi-Zhuan, but the strings of purple energy make him recover the blows quickly. Robert realizes its the pylons at the side of the room that actually protect Xi-Zhuan, and manages while Ellie and Julius are being held back by purple energy to destroy one of the pylon. Ellie and Julius are freed, but Julius manages to sneak away the V-Crystal that came from the pylon. Julius crashes a rock into the second pylon at the other side, severely weakening Xi-Zhuan, but he starts firing lightning from his fingers, torturing Ellie. Robert sneaks behind him, using his switchblade to throw Xi-Zhuan of target, releasing Ellie from his torturing lightning. Realizing Xi-Zhuan is weakened now, Robert engages him in a fistfight, but the lightning returns from the fingers of Xi-Zhuan '''PRESENT - Agent Lokin interrupts Ellie, saying the way the fight between Delta Platoon and Warlord Xi-Zhuan must've taken a toll on the battle above the village. Ellie agrees to this, saying the continued use of the Scale of Shi'ntora was taking a toll on Xi-Zhuan who began losing control over the dragon. It became apparent to them that taking the Scale out of the equation, would take care of the dragon, or so they thought. Agent Archer enters the room, telling Agent Lokin Agent Dexter needs word. Agent Lokin tells Ellie he will be right back as he leaves the room. Outside he picks up the phone and speaks with Agent Dexter, who tells him Ellie Wellace was right all along. Remains of the village have been found, their research teams are moving in now. Agent Lokin orders that he wants to be kept in the loop. With regards to the latest threats, they cannot leave any stone unturned. Agent Dexter agrees and says there is one more thing and tells that Senator Bark has requested to be kept in the loop. Agent Lokin finishes with saying Senator Bark may only know what is released by his knowledge nothing else. He finishes the conversation and reenters the appartment. He accepts a cup of tea of Ellie and sits back down. Ellie says she is nearly done, they are close to the finish. APRIL 3, 1965 - NUNGCONG JUNGLE - 'Shi'ntora had noticed the shots being fired by the USS Fairer and turned to the coast with Havoc Leader ordering his squadron to prevent the dragon from getting to the coast. Havoc Seven crashes into the dragon, crashing onto the ground, destroying yet another artillery unit. Sam and Anthony have arrived above ground and are planting explosives around the village and on the remaining artillery units. As the sky is clearing up, Sam recieves long distance communication from Lance that guerilla forces from the Vietnamese have closed in on their position. There won't be much more time for them to exfiltrate the location. Sam asks how much more time they have. Lance tells them an hour to say the least and then they will have to have the airlift ready. Anthony says they need to find the rest or at least the spot where to blow a hole in the ground. As they prepare to find the spot, they find the final soldiers of the Order, and they know they have to take them out. Lance and Admiral Barnes are on the deck, seeing how the dragon is approaching them with the Black Havoc Squadron hunting it down. Tearing two more fighters out of the air, Admiral Barnes orders all equipped weaponry to aim for the dragon and attack on own accord. Despite the volleys of the weaponry, it doesn't seem to harm the dragon. Lance orders a protective cordon around the USS Fairer, while a communications officer informs them of Sovjet ships having turned towards them. Admiral Barnes tells Lance they need to end this quickly, if they don't want this escalated into a new war already. Lance says it is all down to the team downstairs. They get direct communications up with Havoc Two, who says one of the fighters torn apart was Havoc Leader. Admiral Barnes advances him to Havoc Leader position, saying they need to take the dragon with all they have. The USS Fairer opens up a second hatch, firing a volley of missiles from below deck. They seem to do a lot more damage. Daniel and Julius are capable of taunting Xi-Zhuan from Robert and Robert manages to destroy the final two pylons, which means Xi-Zhuan is no longer capable of using the powers of the pylons to defend himself. Still capable of using lightning to destroy walls and ornaments, Xi-Zhuan pulls out a long blade saying this fight is over. Robert agrees, managing to duck below a swing of Xi-Zhuan's blade, saying this conflict has gone on way to long. He then manages to disarm Xi-Zhuan by blocking the blade with his rifle and ducks again as lightning is spread around. Robert grabs the blade and drives it right through the chest of Xi-Zhuan. Xi-Zhuan, now severely weakened, still manages to put up a decent fight, but Delta Platoon is starting to get the upper hand. Two shots of Daniel's sniper rifle down him and Robert says this is over, beheading Xi-Zhuan, killing him, making him drop the Scale of Shi'ntora. Before either Julius or Robert can get to it, it falls into the endless depth created by the fight below them. The fight was finally over. As mortar volleys hit the dragon, the dragon fires a breath of fire at the USS Virtigo, but then suddenly stops. Shi'ntora howls widely, flying straight up. The howl had pierced the souls of everyone around them as the dragon flew back down straight into the sea, creating a small tsunami. Admiral Barnes asks Lance what just happened. Lance tells him it seems the fight is over. Admiral Barnes says the team must have succeeded. At that point the Sovjet ships are approaching fast. Lance request orders and Admiral Barnes tells him orders came through from the Pentagon, they are to retreat to international waters after the airlift, he orders to withdraw the Black Havocs. Relaying those orders, Lance says he hopes this really is over. Admiral Barnes also orders to use sonar and mini-subs to locate the dragon under the sea to see where it had gone, to see if it is still a credible threat. Robert, Julius, Ellie and Daniel were standing around the body of the finally dead Warlord. Robert asks Ellie to check the pulse and Ellie confirms Xi-Zhuan is dead. Robert asks them to find the V-Crystals from the pylons and secure them. Ellie and Daniel return with three and Robert is frustrated that only three have been found. Julius carefully hides the fourth V-Crystal in his pocket. At that point they hear rumbling coming from above. Robert, Daniel and Ellie manage to duck in safety, but Julius misses the timing and breaks his leg, as the ceiling drops down to their spot. Anthony and Sam and the remainder of their surviving forces appear above them, asking them if they are okay. Robert tells them to get the ladder down so they can get up. As Robert, Ellie and Daniel go up, with Ellie being helped up by Anthony, Julius manages to get his hands on a small part of the Scale of Shi'ntora and puts it in the pocket with the V-Crystal he held, and then is being dragged to his feet by Anthony and Sam who had come down to come help him get up. Above ground, the remainder of the forces of Sam's group have gathered some of the materials in the huts as Sam and some of his men prepare a landing strip for a small freight helicopter to land. Indeed the freight helicopter, escorted by Havoc Nine and Havoc Ten, appear in the sky. Robert tells them to gather up the gear and they do so. The freight helicopter lands near them and they load in the gear and remainder of materials found in the village and base. Julius and the men go into the freight helicopter, most of them finally happy that it is all over, Julius is rather annoyed he didn't get his hand on the Scale or the dragon, but doesn't reveal it to the others. As the freight helicopter takes off, Robert tells Daniel, Sam and Ellie to prepare for the airlift. Ellie says it is weird, the dragon seems to have disappeared all of a sudden. Robert tells her, he heard from Sam that Lance reported the dragon disappeared into the sea after they struck down Xi-Zhuan. Robert tells Sam, Daniel and Ellie to watch Julius, something tells him Julius wants more. At that point three MiG-14 Vultures fly over towards the freight helicopter. Robert widens his eyes, realizing the Vietnamese are close and those MiGs are to take down the freight helicopter. The freight helicopter is heading towards the sea, but the MiGs are hunting them. Havoc Nine and Ten break formation, while the helicopter picks up speed. They find the aircraft heading towards Robert's position for the airlift, coming their way, while Havoc Nine and Ten engage the three Vultures. The three vultures are taken out just in time for the freighter helicopter to reach the USS Virtigo. Robert and the remaining members are ready for the airlift and the balloons are equipped to the aircraft, allowing the last to disappear from the Nungcong Jungle, their fight against the Order of the Dragon Tail finally over. As the aircraft finally touches down on the Virtigo as well, Robert meets with Lance and Admiral Barnes who congratulates him on the succesful mission. Robert thanks him and sees how a fleet of bombers take off from the newly arrived USS Veridipitous aircraft carrier. Admiral Barnes informs him they are going to firebomb the base of the Order to ensure the destruction of the Order. Admiral Barnes tells him they are going on a direct transport back to the USA. The President wants to speak to them. '''APRIL 7, 1965 - THE WHITE HOUSE - 'President Wayne Ellis was sitting with his wife, drinking tea, in the Oval Office, when his aide arrives with General Howard Briggs and Admiral Bob Barnes. They introduce the President to Robert Grant and the rest of his team. The President congratulates them on the excellent mission. Robert tells the President that they lost a great deal of people on the fight. The President asks him to return to the warzone to lead the military advisors in Vietnam, but Robert kindly refuses. He tells the President he has seen enough of Vietnam for a lifetime. The President smiles and accepts Robert's refusal. He also hands them the Cross of Glory, a reward for them for heroic deeds in service of the United States. He then promotes Robert to Major, offering him a chance to train new teams for the 324 Armored Division. Robert accepts the offer and asks the President if the entire remainder of Delta Platoon can be assigned to the same base. The President tells him it has already been settled. Robert leaves, with Ellie, Daniel, Anthony, Sam and Lance with him. Julius however requests a dismissal from the armed services. He has had enough of the war. President Ellis agrees to this, due to the acts of bravery Julius committed. He tearfully says goodbye to the rest of his team and then leaves. Astounded but not surprised, Robert and the rest leave the White House to begin their new army lives. 'PRESENT -' Ellie finishes the story saying that is it. That was all that happened during that particular mision. Agent Lokin thanks her. Ellie asks that he will never reaccount this story to anyone else, it is quiet unbelievable. Agent Lokin says they are facing something as unknown as the dragon that was there during that mission. Something as mysterious and possibly dangerous. This will only be discussed in the highest echelons of the governments. Agent Lokin finishes his tea as he stands up. He asks whether they ever heard anything from Julius again or what he did afterwards. Ellie says they did not hear much, Julius disappeared from the radar for a few years. They can safely conclude that it was him who took the final V-Crystal from the base and the village. There are no V-Crystals in possession of the government or SPECTER. Ellie smirks, saying there is one final V-Crystal. She goes to a vault below the table and opens it, revealing the final tube with the final V-Crystal. She says she secured it here, no-one ever knew about it. She hands it to Agent Lokin saying it should be theirs now. Do whatever they want with it, she wants nothing to do with it anymore. She has a family now, she met her husband there during the mission, she has a son now who is a famous reporter in New York. Agent Lokin smirks saying it sure is and says good bye to Ellie Wellace. They leave as Ellie looks at pictures of her and Anthony and the rest of Delta Platoon. '''THROUGHOUT THE YEARS - The series of flashbacks appear, showing Ellie and Anthony dancing to music on their wedding day, with the rest of Delta Platoon standing around them. It then shifts to Ellie giving birth to Mark, with them posing on a photo, with Robert and an unknown lady, supposedly his wife, posing as the godparents of Mark. It then shifts to Ellie and Anthony on vacation with a young Mark, swimming, having dinner, everything, again later with Robert and the rest of Delta Platoon and the unknown lady. As more scenes of training camps, parties, coronations, Julius being raised and accepted as a Senator flash by it all ends with a final picture of the remainder of Delta Platoon standing together happy. PRESENT - '''Agent Lokin and Agent Archer exit the building. Agent Archer asks Agent Lokin if they know everything now. Agent Lokin says Ms Wellace had told them the entire story of the mission yeah and it confirmed what they suspected. He pulls out a PDA, revealing a picture of a gold plated box in the middle of a sandpool. Agent Lokin says there hasn't been a V-Crystal related incident for fifteen years, why did it come back now? Agent Archer says he got the distinct feeling there is more to it then appears to the eye. Agent Lokin agrees and says the story was told, but was it the entire story? Did Ellie indeed tell the entire story, or are they missing something? He tells Agent Archer to inform Director Hand that they are returning to the Cube, they have to secure the artifact right away. '''THE END AFTER CREDITS - 1970 - '''The picture of Delta Platoon once again appears, but is roughly torn apart. As the camera pans out, it is revealed to be Julius Bark sitting behind a desk. He says Delta Platoon had served their purpose in his course of his life, but it is time for him to undertake action on his own. He has the V-Crystal from the base in a glass case on the desk and the small piece of the Scale on his desk. Two men appear in front of him, saying everything is ready. They have prepared everything for a mission into the Nungcong Jungle and retrieve the Scale. Julius activates a screen in the wall revealing pictures of the Scale of Shi'ntora in the cave where they disappeared from, saying he knows its there and he wants it. The Order has not survived the war, but the Order will rebuilt itself here. A third man appears in the office, saying he brings a gift, a gift from his master. He places it on the desk of Julius and Julius opens the package, revealing three eyeballs. Julius asks if these are the eyeballs of them. The third man says yes, these are the Crystal Eyes of the Masters, a special gift from their master, The Clairvoyant. Trivia *This is the final episode of The Vietnam Contingency. The Vietnam Contingency Issues 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - '''5